Roberto Firmino might be the centre-forward most synonymous with Jurgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool, but the German’s reign both started and ended with a more traditional number nine.
The Brazilian is an Anfield legend, having won every major honour during his eight years at the club. Returning 111 goals and 72 assists from 362 appearances, he reinvented himself as a false nine to great effect as the central cog between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in the Reds’ famous attacking triumvirate.
As he got older, he was no longer a guaranteed starter. Diogo Jota emerged as a much more prolific, albeit less reliable in terms of availability because of injury, option, before Klopp brought in Darwin Nunez from Benfica in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth up to a club-record £85m.
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While blistering quick and capable of playing outwide, in terms of profile the Uruguayan is a more traditional number nine. Which is somewhat ironic considering Klopp discarded such a player soon after taking over at Anfield.
Firmino’s transition into a false nine only began following Klopp’s appointment in October 2015, having initially failed to make an impression under predecessor Brendan Rodgers. With the deadly Daniel Sturridge by this point injury-prone, the German turned to Firmino after deciding Liverpool’s traditional number nine at the time did not suit his preferred style.
That striker in question was Christian Benteke. While the Reds’ recruitment team wanted Firmino the previous, Rodgers wanted the Belgian. FSG ultimately ended up signing them both.
Benteke actually enjoyed a bright start to his Liverpool career, scoring the winner on his home debut against AFC Bournemouth and netting twice from his opening six games after establishing himself as first-choice under Rodgers. But then an untimely injury struck, and Klopp was in the dugout upon his return.
From thereon in, the targetman was more a squad option than first-choice forward. While he still scored 10 goals for the Reds in his maiden season at the club, registering five assists, only 20 of his 42 appearances came from the start.
And after starting all six of those opening games under Rodgers, only three times did he manage back-to-back starts under Klopp. On the bench for both the League Cup and Europa League finals, he would start just twice in the Premier League in 2016.
Consequently, it was no surprise when Liverpool moved Benteke on after just one season. In August 2016, he was sold to Crystal Palace in a deal worth up to £32m. Remarkably the Reds had managed to recoup pretty much their entire outlay on the now unwanted striker.
Rodgers had been determined to sign Benteke, considering he had regularly tormented Liverpool during his time with Aston Villa – returning five goals from just six meetings. And having scored 49 goals from 101 games in three seasons for the Villans, he had established himself as one of the Premier League’s deadliest forwards.
Top-scoring in all three of his seasons at Villa Park, it was his goals that kept Villa in the Premier League. Finishing 15th in both 2012/13 and 2013/14, five points clear of the drop-zone, the West Midlanders were then 17th in 2014/15 as they avoided relegation by just three points.
Consequently, it was no surprise to see Benteke move on, and no surprise to see Villa relegated from the Premier League in that first season without their main man. But one thing that was a surprise was the fee Liverpool paid for the forward – at least to those at Villa Park, that is.
The Reds paid £32.5m to bring the striker to Anfield and former Villa manager Tim Sherwood has revealed the club’s stunned reaction to Liverpool’s transfer bid.
“At the end of the season Brendan called me and said he was going to sign Christian,” Sherwood recalled on the Undr The Cosh Podcast. “I tried my best to put him off.
“I remember ringing the chairman and I told him Christian is going. And he said ‘you’re joking me?’
“It wasn’t like, ‘you’re joking we don’t want to lose him.’ It was like ‘You’re joking, nobody is paying that?’”
Prior to Jack Grealish’s £100m move to Manchester City in the summer of 2021, Benteke’s £32.5m move to Liverpool made him the highest outgoing transfer in Aston Villa’s history. Though that was little consolation to the club as they went on to suffer relegation.
Meanwhile, after losing six consecutive matches, including a nine-game winless run which had left a Benteke-less Villa 19th in the table, Sherwood was sacked on October 25, 2015 – just three weeks after Rodgers’ own dismissal at Liverpool.
Considering how quickly the striker found himself unfancied at Anfield, it was a deal that failed to work out for any of the parties involved.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
